The Nam June Paik Art Center is located in Yongin, a city on the outskirts of Seoul. The centre is dedicated to the work of 20th century Korean artist Nam June Paik,  and “aspires to reactivate the experimental and interventionist spirit of 20th century and contemporary art practices in order to become a locus where aesthetic, political, and social potentialities contribute to questioning and redefining the relationships between art, philosophy, media and life.”

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Comedy nights are popping up on events calendars more frequently than in past years.  From Seoul to Busan, it seems that expats in the  stand-up comedy genre are organizing and beginning to join the talented pool of bands, artists, actors, and DJs aready out there.  Saturday July 18th, Itaewon’s Kabinett Wine Bar & Restaurant will host a comedy night featuring three such local comedians: Chris Tharp, Ross Gardiner, and Brian Aylward.

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On July 14th to 19th, the Seoul Cinematheque, in association with the Jeonju Film Festival, will be screening five films by Sri Lankan filmmaker, Dharamsena Pathiraja. July 18th at 3pm, his masterpiece “Old Soldier” will be shown and followed by a discussion hosted by Jeonju Fim Festival programmer, Yu Oon Seong. Pathiraja, now senior lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Colombo, was one of Sri Lanka’s most daring post-colonial filmmakers, and is considered a leader in  the country’s “second revolution” of cinema. All the films will be screened with English subtitles. Admission is w4000 for members and w6000 for non-members.  The festival comes in the wake of the bloody finale of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war between the government and separatist Tamil Tigers.

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In case you missed this video produced by Captain Lucus, Ltd. on Cool Hunting which, by the way, is a fine place to hear about cool shit so check it out.

2ndHands : Graffiti & Street Art from XFFilm on Vimeo.

A thriving graffiti scene is an the essential ingredient for any great city. Over the past few years the scene in Seoul has rocketed itself to international acclaim. Check out this video by XF FILM and watch local writers and artists hit up, throw up, and shake up the streets of Seoul.

The Seoul Design Olympiad is accpeting submissions for their design competition untill July 15, 2009. The competition is open to anyone and submissions can be made online. This years theme is Interflow and Consilience focusing on a muticultural perspective on “discovering eco-friendly, future-oriented design solutions to make a better life for people in Seoul.” Submissions can be in any category but  multidisipline solutions are recommened. The competition is sponsored by Seoul Metropolitan Government and hosted by Seoul Design Foundation.  The Seoul Olympiad is also hosting the Seoul Design Conference in 9-11 October, the Seoul Design Exhibition in 9-29 October 2009 and the Seoul Design Festival 9-29 October 2009.

July 24th to 26 Korea will be hosting not just one, but two massive summer rock festivals chock-a-block with local and international bands.  The Jisan Valley Rock Festival will go toe-to-toe with the already well-established Pentaport Festival to compete for fans on the same weekend. The line up boasts big international acts, Weezer, Basement Jaxx, Oasis and Patti Smith, and Korean acts, Lee Han Chul, Crying Nut, Dr. Core 911. JVRF is affiliated with the Fuji Rock Festival in Niigata, Japan the same weekend with some of the same acts.

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